Kati Morton - Traumatized: Identify, Understand, and Cope with PTSD and Emotional Stress

I have many goals for this book. Most important, I want it to help you more clearly understand what it means to be traumatized. I have been creating content online for over nine years and not a day goes by that someone doesnt message me asking if what they experienced is considered trauma or not. Most of us dont know the nuances and diagnostic criteria that help mental health professionals decide whether what someone is going through is a post-traumatic response. That information shouldnt be something we only have access to if we can afford to see someone. Trauma should be discussed openly, honestly, and done so often that if someone in our life goes through a terrifying situation, they feel empowered and supported enough to talk about and heal from it. My goal of getting mental health information out to those who need it has been the driving force behind my YouTube channel, my podcast, and now this book; if we dont have an understanding of trauma and how its defined, how can we work to overcome it? We cant get help with something we dont know we have.

Having a name to put to what we feel can be validating and gives us a place to start when it comes to getting help. Information is empowering and gives us the language to frame our requests for support. This helps us figure out what type of mental health professional we are seeking and what to ask for when we make that first appointment. It can also help to know what the different trauma symptoms are, and how they can feel, so that we can more easily express whats going on to those who can help us. This can ensure we get useful tools and skills right away, and shorten the amount of time we spend in pain or feeling misunderstood. By walking you through all of this information, I hope you feel better prepared to ask for the help you need, want, and deserve.

I want you to know that I dont consider myself a trauma specialist. My career up until this point has focused on helping those with eating disorders and self-injury urges. I did most of my postgraduate work in an eating disorder treatment center and continued that work when opening my private practice. However, an interesting thing happened: As I helped my patients overcome their self-destructive urges, I began to realize that most of the reasons behind their desire to numb out or disappear grew out of their past trauma. Trauma was the common thread connecting these mental illnesses, and it was the root of the issues I was seeing each day. Without understanding it and how to treat it, I couldnt be an effective therapist, and I couldnt help my patients when they needed it most. Its because of this realization that I began to research trauma, and talk in depth about it with my online community, which inevitably drove me to write this book: so that anyone dealing with trauma or seeking more knowledge could find the answers and resources needed to help them on their path to recovery.

I hope that by offering therapeutic tools and techniques, as well as which styles of therapy are most effective, I am arming you with all you need to process what happened, begin healing, and be able to move past it to live the life you deserve. I also want the stories from my community to validate all you have been feeling and remind you that you are not alone in what you are going through. By shedding light on what trauma is and how it can feel, and by offering resources to help repair the damage, I hope more people feel seen, heard, and empowered to take their life back.

Surviving trauma is unimaginably difficult, and that can make it hard for us to see any good in the world. My goal is that this book is your much-needed reminder of the kindness still out there: that we can come together to validate one anothers pain, connect through the heavy times, and share in healing knowledge and helpful resources. Today, we are more connected than ever before; lets use that to our advantage by sharing compassion, knowledge, and support.